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Triple jeopardy

MR. EXPOSE

Amb. Ernesto Maceda

09/16/2009

President Estrada was charged with jueteng by Chavit Singson at the impeachment hearings. Shortly after, he was forced out of office by the Edsa II uprising. He suffered for it then.

Then he was charged with plunder before the Sandiganbayan and was convicted on two counts. The jueteng issue and the B & W stock transaction commission. That’s the second time he was "convicted" on jueteng. He was granted absolute pardon which erased the crime.

Ten years after the fact, Sen. Ping Lacson is charging him again on the same jueteng issue suggesting that President Erap received money from jueteng operations. That’s not only double jeopardy. That’s triple jeopardy.

President Estrada has answered the issue convincingly. On Dos for Dos over dzMM, President Erap said that if he was receiving bribes from jueteng as alleged by Ping Lacson he would not have directed Pagcor Chairman Alice Reyes to organize Bingo 2-Ball, which would then remove any reason for bribes. In fact, Senator Lacson admitted that the operation of bingo 2-ball by Pagcor triggered the rift between General Lacson and President Estrada.

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Desperation. Reaction to Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s speech centered not on its contents but why he did it, what was his motive? In his privilege speech yesterday in defense of his father, President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada declared: "After all is said and done, the bottom line here is that Mr. Lacson in desperation is now using the Senate floor to divert attention to President Estrada and away from himself in connection with the forthcoming non-bailable double murder charge that will be filed against him in the Dacer-Corbito Murder Case."

In support of his statement, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada read a statement of lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, counsel for Col. Cesar Mancao which read:

"In my honest opinion as a lawyer, and based on the evidence so far adduced in Court by my client Cezar O. Mancao II, the only direct evidence with respect to the mastermind in the Dacer-Corbito Double Murder Case pertains to Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

"The evidence regarding the participation of former President Joseph Estrada in the said crime is at best sketchy thus far, and in my humble opinion, will not pass muster either in a court of law or before any preliminary investigation in the Department of Justice."

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Character reference. Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, former AFP Chief of Staff under President Estrada issued a statement vouching for the integrity of former President Joseph Estrada citing his first hand experiences as AFP Chief of Staff.

Secretary Reyes said that as AFP Chief of Staff, President Estrada had not given him any illegal order.

"He had not asked me for anything that was in violation of the law. So we have respect for each other and I am proud to say there is nothing I can say that could tarnish the reputation of President Estrada," Reyes added.

So there, who is more credible, General Lacson or General Reyes? Clearly it is General Reyes.

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Tidbits. A ranking Liberal Party leader told us in a chance encounter that the high Noynoy Aquino rating will dissipate in two months and President Erap and Manny Villar should be on top again... Former gambling lord, Gov. Arman Sanchez is now actively campaigning for Sen. Manny Villar and is starting to distribute money to barangay leaders... Former Rep. Romy Jalosjos said President Erap is strong in Zamboanga del Norte... Rep. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (KBL, Ilocos Norte, 2nd district) predicts that the 2010 presidential contest will be fought between President Estrada and Sen. Manny Villar, not Noynoy Aquino... Whoever engineered the latest SWS survey has done Noynoy Aquino a disservice by coming out with a 50 percent rating. It would have been more credible if they came out with a 30 percent or so rating. Anyway let’s wait for the next Pulse Asia survey which is more credible... Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco issued a statement saying he was indeed pressured to sell his 7.75 percent shares in PITC. That is clearly only a minority stake. Will Senator Lacson now claim that the big majority stockholders were also pressured?